Ditching-machine.



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PATENTBD MAY 2l, 1907.

T. LINGA.

D'ITGHING MACHINE. APPLI-0ATION FILBD-00T. 8, V1006.

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/-! l l/l A TTORNEYS PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

T. LINGA. DITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED oo'lna. 1906.

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A TTORNEYS UNITED STATES TORBJRN LINGA, OF THOR, IOWA.

DITCHlNGl-NIACHINEl Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 19.07.

Application iled October 8, 1906. Serial No. 338,074

To all zul/1,0m it may concern:

Be it known that I, TORBJRN LINGA, a subje'ct of the King of Norway,residing at Thor, in the county of Humboldt and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Ditching-Machine, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to ditching machines and its object is to providea self-propelled machine of this character having means of' novelconstruction for digging ditches to desired depths and for dischargingthe removed dirt at the sides of the dito A still further obj ect is toprovide a ditching machine which is of very simple construction, whichcan be readily manipulated, and which has simple means for adjusting thedigging mechanism vertically.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts whichwill be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of theinvention.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 isa vertical transverse section; Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of thedigging wheel one of the buckets being partly broken away; Fig. 4 is atransverse section through a portion of the wheel and the deflectingplates or guards; and Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the mechanism forraising or lowering the wheel carrying frame.

Referring to the figures by characters of, reference, 1-1 are side beamsconnected by end beams 2 to form the main frame of the machine, saidframe being supported by traction wheels 3. Parallel beams 4 arearranged longitudinally within the frame and carry inclined plates 5which co-operate with similar plates 6 upon the beams 1 to formelongated hoppers 7 open at the bottom. Upstanding from the beams 4 areuprights 8 on which are mounted channeled side strips 9 connected attheir upper ends by means of a strip 10 so as to form a frame which isslidably mounted upon the standards 8. Arms 11 extend downward from theside strips 9 and constitute supports for the stationary axle 12 of thedigging wheel. This wheel comprises a hub 13 to which is secured a disk14 and secured to the disk is a series of radiating arms 15 each ofwhich has a yoke 16 at its upper end in which is secured a cylindricalbucket 17 the forward or advancing end which is preferably formed at anacute angle to the radius of the wheel. Each bucket is open at its endsand has a follower 18 slidably mounted therein and connected by a link19 with a lever 20. All of these levers 20 are pivoted as at 21 upon thedisk and are limited in their movement in one direction by a collar 22which is fixed upon the axle.

The collar 22 has a rojection 23 thereon extending into the path) ofends 24 which are offset from thev levers 20. Curved T-irons 25 aresecured to an outer ring 26 which connects the arms 15 and these T-ironsare dis-f posed directly in front of the buckets 17 andv extend topoints close to the levers. 20 in front thereof. A smaller concentricring 27 is secured to the arms 15 and is connected to has an ear 38through which extends a screw 39 bearing at its lower end in the bracket40 on one of the beams 1 and at its upper end in a cross strip 41arranged upon the uprights 8 and 37. An ear 42 also extends laterallyfrom the strip 10 and is engaged by a screw 43 bearing at its lower endin a bracket 44 supported by one of the beams 4 and at its upper end inthe cross strip 41. The two screws are provided at their upper ends withsprockets 45 and each sprocket has achain 46 thereonwhich extends arounda double sprocket 47 secured upon a short shaft 48 which is j ournaledin the cross strip 41 and carries a beveled gear 49. Secured to the sidestrips 9 are inclined deflecytor plates 50 the upper edges of which arecurved so as to be concentric with the ring 26 and these edges areoverlap ed by the T- irons 25. These deflector p ates 50 are so disposedas to direct dirt into the hoppers 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 2.Journaled in brackets 51 extending forward from the uprights 8 and 37 isa shaft 52 carrying a pulley 53 and 'a beveled gear 54. This gear mesheswith a gear 55 on the upper end of the verti.- cal shaft 34 and saidgear 55 carries a cog 56 which meshes with a similar gear 57 disposedupon a short shaft 58 journaled in suitable .Spports connected to theupright 37. This IOC:

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shaft 58 has a beveled gear 59 thereon disposed directly below the gear49. A shaft 60 is j ournaled upon the cross strip 41 and is provided atone end with a beveled gear 61 while its other end is forked as at 62and carries meshing gears 63. A yoke 64 embraces gears 61 and 63 and isformed at one end of a lever 65 which is fulcrumed upon a supportingbracket extending from the upright 37. A suitable motor 66 is carried bythe frame of the machine and drives a belt 67 extending around thepulley 53. A beveled gear 68 is also driven by the motor and meshes witha gear 69 upon one end of a shaft 70. This shaft has a worm 71 thereonwhich meshes with a worm wheel 72 on the axle 73 of one pair of wheels 3so that the entire gear can be slowly propelled. It is of courseunderstood that any suitable means may be employed for starting,stopping or reversing the machine and mechanism other 'than that shownmay be used for propelling the machine it merely being necessary toprovide means whereby the machine can be propelled slowly in a desireddirection.

In using the machine the wheel carrying frame made up of strips 9 and 10and arms 11 is adjusted to a desired elevation by swinging the lever 65so as to bring either the gear 61 or the gears 63 in mesh with gears 49or 59. The motor will of course drive the shaft 34 by means of the bolt67, shaft 52 and gears 54 and 55 and rotary motion will in turn betransmitted from the shaft 34 through gears 56 and 57 to shaft 58. Bymanipulating the gears 61 and 63 the gear 49 can be caused to rotate ina desired direction so that the screws 39 and 43 will be rotated toraise or lower the wheel carrying frame and the bracket 35 on which thegear 33 is mounted. When the wheel has been elevated to a desired pointit will be supported by the screws 43 and 39 and rotary motion will betransmitted thereto from shaft 34 through gears 33, 32 and 30. The gearsare so proportioned as to cause the wheel to rotate slowly, preferablyabout three times a minute and the forward ends of the buckets will bebrought successively into contact with the ground and the pressure ofthe dirt entering the buckets will press the follower 18 backward untilthe levers 20 are stopped by theh arms 15. As the buckets move upwardcarrying the dirt therewith the ends 24 of the levers 20 will be broughtsuccessively into contact with the projection 23 and will be trippedthereby so as to force the follower 18 forward and discharge the dirtfrom the buckets. The discharged dirt will fall upon the T-ironsdirectly in front of the bucket and will then be directed to oppositesides of the machine and into the hoppers 7 by the plates or guards 50.The T-iron 25 of course prevents the dirt from falling between theseguards. The machine travels forward slowly as the wheel rotates andtherefore the length of the ditch will be gradually increased and thedirt removed therefrom will be deposited along the sides thereof atpoints where it can be conveniently reached for the purpose of refillingthe ditch. It will of course be understood that any suitable means maybe employed for raising the gear 33 out of mesh with gear 32 when it isdesired to stop the rotation of the digging wheel and I do not deem itnecessary to illustrate any particular means for shifting said gear.Also instead of the particular means for transmitting motion to theguards from the shaft 34 any other desired mechanism may be employedprovided the same is capable of being manipulated to reverse therotation of the guards whenever desired.

The preferred form of the invention has been set forth in the foregoingdescription but I do not limit myself thereto as I am aware thatmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the advantages thereof7 and I therefore reserve the right tomake such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a rotatable series of tubular buckets carried by saidframe, means for actuating said series, and means movably mounted withinthe buckets for successively discharging the contents` of the bucketsupon reaching a predetermined point.

2. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a IOO bucket carried by the frame and mounted totravel within a circle, means for actuating the bucket, a dischargedevice within the bucket, and means for automatically actuatingsaid'device at a predetermined point during the rotation of the bucket.

3. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a bucket carried by the frame and adapted to travelwithin a circle, a follower within the bucket, means for actuating thebucket, and means for actuating the follower when the bucket reaches apredetermined point in its movement.

4. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a, bucket carried thereby and mounted to travel in acircle, means for rotating the bucket, a

follower slidably mounted within and movable with the bucket, andmechanism for automatically sliding the follower within the bucket whensaid bucket reaches a predetermined point.

5. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of an arm carried by the frame and mounted to travel ina circle, a tubular bucket movable with the arm, a follower mounted toslide within the bucket, a lever for actuating the follower, a trippingdevice for actuating the lever at a predetermined point during therotation of the arm and bucket.

6. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a wheel rotatably mounted within and supported by theframe, arms radiating therefrom, a tubular bucket carried by each arm, afollower in each bucket, means for successively actuating the followerat a predetermined point during the rotation of the wheel, and means forrotating the wheel.

7. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a wheel rotatably mounted thereon, a plurality oftubular buckets carried by thewheel, a follower within each bucket,levers fulcrumed upon the wheel for actuating the followers, astationary tripping device for automatically actuating said leverssuccessively at a predetermined point during the rotation of the wheel,and means for rotating the wheel.

8. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a rotatable series of buckets carried by the frame,means for automatically discharging the contents of the bucketssuccessively at a redetermined point, and deflecting means or directingthe discharged contents of the buckets toward the sides of the frame.

9. In a machine of the'character described the combination with aportable frame, hoppers carried thereby; of a rotatable series ofbuckets carried by the frame, means for automatically discharging thecontents of the buckets successively at a predetermined point, and meansfor directing the discharged contents into the hoppers.

10. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame, hoppers carried thereby; of a rotatable series ofbuckets carried by the frame, means for automatically dischargingthecontents of the buckets successively at a predetermined point7 andoppositely inclined deflectors for directing the discharged contentsinto the hoppers, and means movable with the buckets for preventing theadmission of any of said contents between the defiectors.

11. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a wheel rotatably mounted upon the frame, a series ofbuckets carried by the wheel, means for automatically dischargingthescontents of the buckets successively at a predetermined point duringthe rotation of the wheel, deflecting devices disposed at oppositiesides of the wheel, and means movable with the wheel for preventing thedischarged material from falling between the deflectors.

12. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a wheel rotatably mounted upon the frame, a series ofbuckets carried by the wheel, means for automatically discharging thecontents of the buckets successively at a predetermined point during therotation of the wheeL-defiecting devices disposed at opposite sides ofthe wheel, and means movable with the wheel for preventing thedischarged material from falling between the deflectors, and means forvertically adjusting the wheel and deflectors.

13. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a wheel rotatably mounted upon the frame, a series ofbuckets carried by the wheel, means for automatically discharging thecontents of the buckets successively at a predetermined point during therotation 0f the wheel, deflecting devices disposed at o posite sides ofthe wheel, means movab with the wheel for preventing the dischargedmaterial from falling between the deflectors, mechanism for rotating thewheel, and means for adjusting the wheel and deflectors verticallyindependently of the rotation of the wheel.

414C. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a vertically adjustable frame carried thereby,mechanism for actuating the adjustable frame, a wheel carried by saidadjustable frame, buckets rotatable with the wheel, deflectors at oposite sides of the wheel and movable with the adjustable frame, meansfor automatically discharging the contents of the buckets successivelyat a predetermined point7 and means for rotating the wheel independentlyof the adjustment thereof.

15. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a vertically adjustable frame carried thereby, awheel rotatably mounted within the adjustable frame, a series of bucketscarried thereby7 a follower within each bucket, levers fulcrumed uponthe wheel and connected to the followers, rigid means for successivelytripping the levers to actuate the followers, angle irons carried by thewheel and between the buckets7 oppositely inclined deflectors movablewith the adjustable frame and at opposite sides of the Wheel, saiddeflectors being adapted to be overlapped by the angle irons, and meansfor rotating the wheel independently of its adjustment.

16. In a machine of the character described the combination with aportable frame; of a vertically adjustable frame carried thereby, awheel rotatably mounted within the adjustable frame, a series of bucketscarried thereby, a follower within each bucket, levers fulcrumed uponthe wheel and connected to the followers, rigid means for successivelytripping the levers to actuate the followers, angle irons carried by lOOIOS

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the Wheel and between the buckets, oppositely inclined deflectorsmovable with the adjustable frame and at opposite sides of the wheel,said deectors being adapted to be overla lped by the angle irons,parallel rings carrie by the wheel7 ins connecting said rings, a gearmeshing with the pins to rotate the Wheel, and means for rotati-n saidgear independently of the adjustment o the wheel.

17. In a machine of the character describedl the combination with aportable Jrame and a motor for ropelling the frame; of a verticallyadjusta le lrame, means operated by the motor for adjusting said frame7manually operated means for tirowing the adjusting mechanism into or outof contact 'roRBJoRN LINGA.

Witnesses F. B. JAooBsoN, G. S. GARFIELD.

